Sort a HTML Table Column that Contains SQL Data - php

Question

I'm creating a simple transactions report page that takes inputted database data and displays it on an HTML table. I want to be able to sort each column on the client side in asc/desc order when the table header is clicked upon, but I can't get my functions to work.
<?php session_start();
include 'db.php';
include 'head.php';
$sql = "SELECT * FROM ach";
$result = $mysqli->query($sql);
echo "<div class='w3-row-padding w3-margin'>";
if ($result->num_rows) {
echo "<table class='w3-table-all'>
<thead>
<tr>
<th><a href='transactions.php?sort=submittedDate'>Submitted Date</a></th>
<th><a href='transactions.php?sort=accountNumber'>Chief Account Number</a></th>
<th><a href='transactions.php?sort=accountHolderName'>Account Holder</a></th>
<th><a href='transactions.php?sort=achAccountType'>Account Type</a></th>
<th><a href='transactions.php?sort=transferType'>Transfer Type</a></th>
<th><a href='transactions.php?sort=recurringMonthlyTransferDate'>Transfer Date</a></th>
<th><a href='transactions.php?sort=status'>Status</a></th>
<th> </th>
</tr>
</thead>";
// output data of each row
while($row = $result->fetch_assoc()) {
echo "<tbody><tr><td>".$row["submitDate"]."</td><td>".$row["accountNumber"]."</td><td>".$row["accountHolderName"]."</td><td>".$row["achAccountType"]."</td><td>".$row["transferType"]."</td><td>".$row["recurringMonthlyTransferDate"]."</td><td>".$row["status"]."</td><td>Review</td></tr></tbody>";
}
echo "</table>";
} else {
echo "0 results";
}
echo "</div>";
if ($_GET['sort'] == 'submittedDate')
{
$sql .= " ORDER BY `ach`.`submitDate` ASC ";
}
elseif ($_GET['sort'] == 'accountNumber')
{
$sql .= " ORDER BY accountNumber";
}
elseif ($_GET['sort'] == 'accountHolderName ')
{
$sql .= " ORDER BY accountHolderName ASC";
}
elseif($_GET['sort'] == 'achAccountType')
{
$sql .= " ORDER BY achAccountType";
}
elseif($_GET['sort'] == 'transferType')
{
$sql .= " ORDER BY transferType";
}
elseif($_GET['sort'] == 'recurringMonthlyTransferDate')
{
$sql .= " ORDER BY recurringMonthlyTransferDate";
}
elseif($_GET['sort'] == 'status')
{
$sql .= " ORDER BY status";
}
$mysqli->close();
include 'foot.php';
?>

Answer 1

You must add your sorting statements BEFORE you execute the query. Query is executed on this line:
$result = $mysqli->query($sql);

Answer 2

If you want to sort data at server end you have to use order by clause. If you want jquery to sort at client end you can use Data tables
Also put <tbody> </tbody> outside the while. your table is having many tbody tags as there are many rows.
$sort = "";
if(isset($_GET["sort"])) {
$sort = $_GET["sort"];
//validate that it is real column name so that you will not get any error
if(!in_array($sort, array("submittedDate", "accountNumber", "accountHolderName", "achAccountType", "transferType", "recurringMonthlyTransferDate", "status"))) {
$sort = "";
}
if($sort !="") {
$sort = " order by ".$sort." ASC";
}
}
$sql = "SELECT * FROM ach".$sort;